A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Remember when Clintons was all like “OH NOES, WE’RE GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!”.

Talk about crying wolf… (I’m joking!!!)

But anyway, they marked down loads of goodies and I bought enough wrapping paper to NOT BE ABLE TO FIND ANYWHERE TO STORE IT.  And I bought a large Yankee Candle Jar in a super-lemony scent for a nice price.

It smells amazing, zingy and edible – uplifting and warming.  Lush.  But then I put the candle in the loft, because we were moving house and all… and completely forgot about it and left it there.

All summer.  And now it looks like this….

Obviously I *had* to store it on its side, because that’s a totally sensible thing to do isn’t it?

The wick is hidden in there somewhere… I want it back!  I’ve thought about blasting it with a hairdryer in an attempt to uncover the wick but is that dumb?

Have you got any tips or ideas on how I might save my sorry-for-itself candle?

Hi, my name’s Charlotte and I lead a double life.  In my spare time, I take photos of doors.

I’ve just returned from Prague, they have a lot of doors, cool doors.  Look…

I hope I haven’t blown your mind too much.  I am so much fun to go on holiday with.

Do you have any “interesting” hobbies you’d like to share in order to make me feel better about myself?

* but seriously, isn’t that sunflower door AMAZING?

** no, really

I’m a huge fan of holidaying in the UK.  When L was born, I don’t mind admitting that I was too nervous to take her out of the country but now that she’s grown up enough for me to be able to cope with the flights, we’ve gotten used to being able to sling everything in the back of the car and set off up the motorway instead.  I’ve never been a fan of beaches, I find them too boring for words, coupled with the fact that I roast instead of tan and an all-inclusive just isn’t my idea of fun.

We always stay at the budget hotel chains: Travelodge, Etap and Premier Inn – as-long as they’re clean, the beds don’t make me itch (my biggest fear!), and there’s a working telly in the room – I’m happy.  We use our room as base camp, nothing more – it gets too messy to want to spend time in it with Leila about!  I also don’t usually pay more than £12 a night for a Travelodge room, taking advantage of their frequent sales.  I’m sure now that Leila is about to start nursery, we’ll find ourselves more restricted to school holidays but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it – I’ll still sniff out a bargain!

We usually book around 5/6 day breaks, and the deals often run from a Sunday – Saturday (if you’re lucky enough to get the Friday night).  We’ve literally travelled all over the UK in the past three years and have been able to double our spending money simply by compromising on our accommodation, though I know that wouldn’t sit well with everyone.

Anyway… today, I’m sharing a few Instagram snaps from Liverpool and Manchester.  We spent 3 nights in each city (Liverpool Docklands Travelodge & Manchester Salford Quays Travelodge) – both hotels were fine, the location for Liverpool was a little out of the way though and the walk into town wore us out each day!  On our way in, we noticed a Hotel Formule 1 and an Ibis right opposite Albert Docks and would probably try and stay in one of those next time.

01: A ‘proper’ northern kebab – on naan bread and everything! (down with soggy pittas!)

02: Manchester Town Hall has the most incredible interior ever, the main staircase looks like it should have come from Hogwarts!

03: Leila was a little bit excited about her first tram ride.

04: Manchester Town Hall

05: Paddy’s Wigwam in Liverpool, a.k.a Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King

06: Leila just being my silly little goof!

07: So many lovely tweeps and readers recommended Tokyou Noodle Bar in Liverpool, I couldn’t ignore it. Yum, yum Chicken Satay!

08: L and me on the Hope Street Suitcases!

09: Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican). So. bloody. impressive.

10: The Museum of Liverpool has some pretty corners.

11: Well, when you’re in Liverpool… you just have to, don’t you?

12: Ice cream and sequins.  Girl heaven.

13: Ferry across the Mersey. Yes, I AM a total tourist.

14: The Liver Building, I can’t even tell you how excited I got when I first spotted the birds from a distance.  I swear, I’d been scouring the horizon since Runcorn.

15: The Hope Street Suitcases (again)

16: Leila the Victorian street urchin, exploring Lark Hill Place at Salford Museum.

17: The National Football Museum in Manchester is basically brilliant. Unless you hate football.

18: Stained glass and neon at Liverpool Cathedral.

19: You haven’t been to Manchester if you don’t see at least one Lowry, obviously whilst simultaneously singing “…and he painted matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs”

20: We looked and looked for Fred’s weather map! At Albert Docks, Liverpool.

21: Shadows!  We were really lucky with the weather, who knew it didn’t always rain in the North West?! 😉

22: Welcome to Manchester!

23: And on the sixth day…

24: Manchester Town Hall (bit obsessed – sorry!)

25: Someone please explain this one to me!

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Enough holiday rambles and photos… though you should be pleased that we have the internet ether separating us because I’m one of those irritants who would tie you to your chair until you’d looked through every. single. picture.  Twice.  And commented.  My poor family.

I’ll finish with my holiday highlights, just incase anyone is googling and wants some down to earth tips.

1.  The museums – both cities have amazing museums, many of them completely free (though donations are always appreciated).  You can literally fill your cultural boots and then some.  Or, you could just go around pressing all the buttons like me and Leila.  I thoroughly recommend the People’s History Museum in Manchester, it was a real trip highlight.

2. The eats – there is so much choice, but I am partial to a curry cafe and a kebab.  I know, a disgusting habit – but in my defence, I nearly always choose a spinach-based curry (that’s at least a vegetable right?!) and a chicken tikka kebab (never got drunk enough for a lamb doner!)  Our favourite curry cafe has always been Little Aladdin Cafe, behind the Arndale in Manchester… it’s tiny though, so be prepared to wait and don’t leave without ordering a cheese naan.  Got it?

3. Walk, walk, walk – Other than a couple of obligatory tram rides, we walked everywhere and saw SO many hidden gems and shops that we wouldn’t have discovered from inside a bus.  Both city centres are nicely compact and most sights are within easy walking distance.  Plus, we saved some money and didn’t feel so guilty about those curries as a result!

4. Don’t judge a book by its cover – Cathedrals?  Town Halls?  Yawn right?  Mr. L dragged me into Manchester Town Hall half an hour before it closed (I wanted to go to Starbucks), but I’m so pleased I succumbed.  Keep an open mind and make little detours into sights you don’t think will interest you if they’re close by.  Again, that’s the beauty of walking a city – take a chance on the unlikely attractions and more often than not, you’ll be rewarded with some great memories.

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Hope that wasn’t too boring for you, it’s ok – I’ll let you out of your chair now.

What are your favourite holiday haunts in the UK?  I’m always looking for new inspirations!

I’m updating this from my phone, the wordpress app is woefully lacking in both usability and functionality, so a quick textual update is the best I can manage.  We’ve moved in to the new place now and the carpets came up a treat with the Rug Doctor, so a big thank you to your lovely selves for saving me about £80 in carpet cleaning fees (that’s topped up my Boots fund!).  The neighbours are an odd bunch…. the ones below us are mega keen on Country and Western – I’m a bit of a closet fan myself, so was secretly pleased that they’d at least be playing stuff I’m happy to tap my feet along to…. until they had a full-on karaoke hoedown. FFS.

The other neighbour seems to have a bit of a voracious appetite, and we’re not talking KFC.  I’m just grateful that we have a one man in, one man out situation.

Other than that, we’re settling in pretty well – although it does look like someone’s walked through the door and vomited IKEA.  Gotta start somewhere no?

We’re due to get a phoneline connected on the 9th August, blog posts will be extremely few and far between until then but as soon as I’m a bit more settled, hopefully by the end of next week – I’ll be able to use my phone’s 3G connection to power my PC’s internet and I may well be able to get some updates done then – heaven knows I’m missing the crap out of blogging.

Much love, me x

If you’re here for a beauty review today, I’m afraid you’re gonna be a bit disappointed. As I write this, it’s 01:39am and I promised my husband that I wouldn’t be late to bed tonight. I didn’t even have my fingers crossed when I made that promise but still, time has once again, caught up with me.

Time is a particularly precious commodity at the moment and I can only see it getting more stretched over the next month or so. You see, at the ripe old age of 30 – I’ve finally flown the nest. As a family, we’ve very comfortably shared living space with my Mum and Dad for the last ten years. I know it’s a bit taboo and even a bit “weird”… but it’s a situation that has been more harmonious than most would imagine (sometimes!)

Yesterday we signed the tenancy agreement on a new flat and to say I’m bricking it, is an understatement. I wish I still had the bravado that doing this kind of thing when you’re young(er) supplies but alas, I’m just a big wimp if I’m honest.

top floor – if it ever stops raining, we might enjoy the balcony

 Now that the excitement of having a place to call our own has died down a little, I’m overwhelmed. There’s a lot to be done and the previous tenants have left the flat with filthy carpets, about a billion broken “little” things, and a slightly funny smell. Aside from the cupboards, the kitchen is completely empty and all the windows are naked. I had NO IDEA that curtain poles were so expensive!  We’re starting from scratch with nothing more than our clothes and computers to call our own (oh, and makeup – I have some of that too).  Hold me, I’m scared!

If you have any tips on reviving a plush-but-horribly-mistreated carpet, I’m all ears!  Is it worth getting it cleaned professionally?

I sound like a huge moaner. (I am). I’m not – I’m tremendously keen to live out my long-held fantasies of playing house but I’m not afraid to admit that I just have no idea where to start.

And so I apologise, because where there should have been a fantabulous post on beauty this afternoon – all I can really do is stare blankly at the IKEA homepage and wonder what the hell we’ve got ourselves into.

Thanks for listening, I needed that.  I promise to man-up ASAP.

I came across this fun video on a late night YouTube session…

Low Octane. Really? REALLY? Get off my planet.

The only one that I can think of (from the top of my head) that I struggle with is Weleda.  Is it “vell-eeda”, “vell-ayda”, “well-eeda”, “well-ayda?”  FFS.

Which brand names do you struggle with?

This is your Tuesday morning confessional.  Confession All.

You’d be forgiven thinking that people with our level of beauty obsession might get it right, but we don’t.  Just because we know the rules, doesn’t mean that we don’t break them.  I’m feeling a little heavy-hearted this morning, let me lay bare my (grungy) beauty soul in the hopes of lifting a little weight off my shoulders.

1.  I store my brushes in pots, upside down.  These infact.  They’re perfect and lovely and hold all my brushes beautifully – so what’s the problem?  Dust.  You know, all that dead skin and tiny insect turds that float down onto my brush heads before I buff them into my pores every morning?  That.

2.  Flannel-washing.  Do I use a clean flannel every morning?  Errr… sometimes… not really, um no… maybe 3x a week (on a good week).

3.  Best Before… Unless the skincare actives are very, very active (vitamin C and the like), I can’t promise you that I don’t use skincare after its recommended expiry.  I always mean to write the date I opened it somewhere on the packaging to ensure I don’t go beyond… but you know, I have a fucking life.

4.  Skin-picking.  I am the queen crater-creator.  Find me the tiniest blemish and I’ll make a mountain out of a pimple in no time at all.

5.  Concealer?  Oh, I can’t quite reach you over there – never mind, let me add another 7 coats of foundation on this spot instead, I’m *sure* that will fix it.

In my (weak) defence, I do wash my makeup off every night before sleeping.  Without fail.  What used to be a chore turned into a habit and now I’m actually quite compulsive about it.  Not that it really matters though, seeing as I’m using a “dirty” flannel (oh the shame!)

Make me feel better!  Please share your beauty confessionals this morning!

You may have noticed that posts have been a little thin on the ground over the past week, I’m currently in the North East spending some time with the in-laws and my husband’s family.  We spent yesterday enjoying the charms of market town Richmond, in North Yorkshire.  We walked the cobbles until our blisters had blisters and climbed to the top of the castle keep for an impromptu “I’m the King of the castle” singalong.

You may already know that I’m an avid geocacher but the ‘treasure hunts’ from treasuretrails.org caught my eye and I downloaded one to try.  It was supposed to take 2 1/2 hours to complete, so I’m a little shame-faced to admit that yesterday was our SECOND day returning to the town to complete it!  In my defence, Leila walks at about 200 yards an hour.  It was a fantastic way to enjoy a new town, the clues weren’t too easy… at times we had to retrace our steps (not easy when you carrying a toddler up the steepest hill in the world) and there may have been plenty of shandy breaks to cool down from the blazing sun!

We’re back home next weekend and although I’m looking foraward to it, I’ll miss this daily galivanting!  Hope you’ve been able to enjoy the unseasonably wonderful weather?  Looks like it’s nearly done with us for another Summer (probably).

I may have mentioned once or twice (or seven or eight times) that Leila was having her 3rd birthday party this weekend and barring a mild-meltdown the day before – it all went well, the meltdown being from me, not Leila by the way!  I couldn’t find a cake… who knew it was so bloody difficult to find a Thomas the Tank Engine cake that hadn’t been horrifically disfigured in some kind of supermarket shelf accident.  I phoned stores across the county and every single store, bar one (who didn’t pick up) told me that they had a cake… but that it was damaged.  Sort it out supermarkets.

Anyway, just before midnight on the eve of her party, I found a lovely train one in an Asda quite a few miles away, it wasn’t Thomas but it was carrying a cargo of jelly sweets!  I pretty much did the happy dance in the middle of the aisle!  Thank you to all the lovely tweeters who calmed my frayed nerves, gave me great suggestions on Thomas alternatives and brilliant recipes for train biscuits!

I’ve just compiled a video of some clips from her party and as I’m uploading to facebook for our far-away relatives, I thought I’d stick it on here too seeing as she considers many of you her internet Aunties anyway!

I’m knackered and have to do it all over again on the 16th (her actual birthday), we’re also heading into London together on Tuesday for some serious Hamleys/Rainforest Cafe/girly time!

Hope you’re all having a brilliant weekend and (if you’re in the UK), finally enjoying a little bit of sunshine!  A Happy Mother’s Day to my international ladies too!

About a billion years ago (ok, 4) a friend lent me a Canon A-1 35mm SLR and a 24mm lens.  My first taste of a film camera that pulled no punches when it came to working without technological stabilisers.  I loaded up a Neopan 1600 film (with some help from the internet) and took it off to London with me to shoot a couple of frames.  This was four years ago.  When I got back, I put the camera in a cupboard and to my shame, forgot about it.

My friend found himself getting back into film and about a month ago and I got a gentle nudge in the direction of “Oi, gimme my camera back”.  Remembering the film that was still in there, I headed out to Winchester and finished off the roll before sending it off for processing with my fingers crossed that the film hadn’t spoiled too much over time.  I got the pictures back yesterday and it seems so strange to look at those first photos of London that were taken long before Leila put in any kind of appearance…

London, Summer 2008.

Oh how things had changed by the time I’d browsed through to exposure #11 of a 36-frame film, taken 4 years later.

The exposures are all over the place and my focus is off on a few but now I want a film SLR to call my own and I want to learn how to develop my own, a project for the Summer perhaps!

Three years ago today, I started blogging about beauty and although I’ve had some kind of blog since 2001, today marks the longest single stretch yet.  The medium has never been more mainstream or validated than it is today, something which makes me both delighted and horrified in equal measure.  I’ve tried from the very beginning to keep true to what I set out to do, which is absolutely nothing other than use this as a platform to be a bit of a gob-shite about something that interests me and captures my imagination.

Over the past three years I’ve forged some friendships of the like that I’ve never had before and have experienced things that were it not for the blog, I’d never have enjoyed.  I’ve given up my day job to write full-time, it’s scary and I’m very bad at putting myself forward for anything but it beats installing motherboards.

Just as it was three years ago, I’d have approximately nothing without you dodging your work/studies/childcare to have a nosy at what I’ve bought/sampled/discovered or (more recently) cooked!  You tell me in no uncertain terms when what I’m blogging is rubbish/brilliant and I still rub my hands together in maniacal glee when I’ve planted the seed of a lemming in your psyche.  Not so much when you do that to me though bitches, you think I don’t have enough shit?

Ultimately, I just want to say thank you for continuing to have faith in me and what I write, it means more than I can express.

Now, let’s all have some cake this lunchtime ok?  If anyone asks, I’ll shoulder this one.

Many professions dread the general public encroaching on their skills.  Whether it’s traditional makeup artists having their hackles raised by You Tube gurus and beauty bloggers, professional photographers glaring across the wedding party at uncle Bob with his £2k Nikon kit, or long-established nail technicians bristling at professional-only products being sold to the mass market.  Financially, it’s a tough world out there, and for people who have poured often not-insignificant sums into years of training and equipment, I get that it can be galling to see your profession ‘diluted’ in this way.

This was brought to mind recently when I received a press release for a new DIY gel nail system called Sensationail, which has just gone online at Boots priced at £85.00.  It promises salon-quality gel nails at a fraction of the cost when compared to regular salon visits.

From my regular brow-threading trips to the brilliant Eastern Arts Beauty, I know how much these small enterprises rely on return business from their most loyal customers and I wonder just how threatened these establishments must feel when the latest DIY products come on the market.  Sure, in the past most of them have been gimmicky and in reality, rarely give the best results… but there are always newer technologies waiting in the wings, ready to superceded and threaten.

From my own personal experience with DIY beauty, there’s still very much a place for the salon and this is coming from someone who’s been fortunate enough to try some of the most cutting-edge DIY devices.  On the surface, at-home beauty tools seem to provide total convenience but after just a few sessions with my ILP device (for example)… I was ready to go back to the professionals, even if it meant paying through the nose, and I’m still coughing up the pennies today.

What do you think about at-home solutions for the kind of services you’d usually visit a professional?  Interested in doing your own gel nails at home?